CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Following a thrilling midweek victory over Maryland, the No. 9 Virginia baseball team (21-5, 6-2 ACC) returns to league play with a three-game set at Boston College (18-8, 6-3 ACC).
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1090 AM)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday – 3 PM
Virginia: LHP Kyle Johnson (0-0, 7.13 ERA, 1.0 IP, 0 BB, 2 SO)
Boston College: LHP A.J. Colarusso (1-0, 4.32 ERA, 16.2 IP, 6 BB, 18 SO)
Saturday – 2 PM
Virginia: LHP Max Stammel (2-1, 4.97 ERA, 25.1 IP, 12 BB, 22 SO)
Boston College: LHP Tyler Mudd (1-2, 4.88 ERA, 24.0 IP, 7 BB, 15 SO)
Sunday – 1 PM
Virginia: RHP John Paone (1-1, 5.63 ERA, 24.0 IP, 7 BB, 22 SO)
Boston College: LHP Brady Miller (0-0, 1.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 5 BB, 16 SO)
LEADING OFF
- Entering the weekend, Virginia is averaging 10.3 runs per game, which ranks fifth in the country and fourth in the league behind Georgia Tech, Miami and Pittsburgh. Overall, UVA has scored the second-most runs in the country at 267.
- The power surge has been powered by 46 home runs through the first 25 games of the season. The 46 dingers rank ninth nationally and second in the ACC. In 2025, the Cavaliers did not hit their 46th home run of the year until game 39.
AGAINST BOSTON COLLEGE
- In a series that only dates back to Boston College joining the ACC in 2005, the Cavaliers and Eagles have met on the baseball diamond 40 times, with UVA taking 29 of the games.
- Boston College and Virginia met four times during 2025, with BC winning three of the meetings. The Eagles took two of three from the Cavaliers on the opening weekend of ACC before downing Virginia in a wild late-night affair during the ACC Tournament.
- The last time that the two squads faced off in Boston was in 2024. Boston College won the first game played at Fenway Park before UVA stormed back to win the final two games of the series in Brighton.
ON THE MOUND
- To open the weekend, Kyle Johnson will make his second appearance on the mound. In his season debut, Johnson threw 10 pitches and fanned two of the three Wake Forest batters he faced.
- Max Stammel will go on Saturday. Over the first five starts of the season, Stammel is 2-1 with a 4.97 ERA in 25.1 innings with 22 strikeouts. In his start against North Carolina, Stammel tossed six innings of one-run ball to pick up his first quality start of the season.
- To close out the weekend, freshman John Paone will be handed the rock. The right-hander from Massachusetts is 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 24.0 innings of work.
DEFORESTATION AT THE DISH
- For its seventh-straight ACC series win dating back to the end of the 2025 season, Virginia took two of three from the then-No. 24 Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
- With the series win, UVA improves to 38-12 in the last 50 games that the Cavaliers have played on the baseball diamond.
- In the series opener, Kyle Johnson made his UVA debut on the mound and set the tone with an electric 10-pitch inning. In the bottom of the frame, the Virginia offense exploded for five runs and cruised to a 10-6 victory.
- Sunday’s rubber match saw Virginia collect its eighth come-from-behind victory behind another offensive eruption and 4.2 shutout relief innings from the bullpen duo of Noah Yoder and Lucas Hartman.
CLASH POINT SECURED
- For the opening home weekend of ACC play, Virginia took two of three games from in-commonwealth rival Virginia Tech at Disharoon Park.
- In game one, UVA rode a career-high performance from Henry Zatkowski as the lefty fanned 10 Hokies. The Virginia office exploded for eight runs over the middle third to take the series opener.
- To claim the series, four different Cavaliers homered, led by Sam Harris, who did it twice, as Virginia got a trio of shutdown innings from Kevin Jaxel and Noah Yoder in relief.
- The Saturday series clincher gave Virginia a share of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash. UVA exited the weekend leading 11-4, with seven sports remaining.
CAROLINA CONQUERED
- For the opening weekend of ACC play, Virginia took two of three games from No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels 29-13 during the weekend set.
- In game one, UVA rode monster offensive performances from Harrison Didawick, Noah Murray and Eric Becker to a 13-3 victory in seven innings. Henry Zatkowski held North Carolina to five hits over 5.1 innings of work.
- To claim the series, Max Stammel had his best game in a Virginia uniform, surrendering one run in six innings. Zach Jackson and Sam Harris each homered in the 9-2 victory.
SPRING CLEANING
- On the third weekend of the season, Virginia swept the VCU Rams in a three-game series that saw the first two games played at Disharoon Park with the finale at The Diamond in Richmond.
- UVA took the series opener by a score of 5-3 and was powered by a career-high eight-strikeout performance by Henry Zatkowski and a leadoff home run from Eric Becker.
- Saturday’s game two saw UVA win its first walk of the season as the Cavaliers won 7-6 in 11 innings. AJ Gracia homered while Eric Becker was in the middle of the game-tying play in the ninth and the walk-off in the 11th.
- Sunday’s series finale included eight innings of one-run ball from the freshman trio of John Paone, Noah Yoder and Jayden Stroman. Gracia, Sam Harris and Zach Jackson all homered to secure the sweep.
FUN IN THE SUN
- For the first road trip of the 2026 season, Virginia headed south for a round robin tournament hosted by Stetson. The Hoos dismantled the Monmouth Hawks on Friday before falling in walk-off fashion to Stetson on Saturday. UVA rode late-inning heroics to a victory over North Dakota State in the weekend finale on Sunday.
- On Friday, the Hoos smashed seven home runs en route to a 21-8 win over Monmouth. The seven dingers were the most by UVA in a game since hitting eight against George Washington in 2024.
- In the weekend opener against Monmouth, the UVA trio of Noah Murray, Sam Harris and AJ Gracia each hit multiple home runs, becoming the first trio of Cavaliers to hit multiple home runs in the same game this century.
BREAKING IN THE NEW VIDEO BOARD
- To accompany the debuts on Davenport Field, a new state-of-the-art video board also made its debut on opening weekend, displaying plenty of content.
- Over the course of the opening weekend, UVA plated 69 runners in three games—the most ever in a three-game stretch to start a season. The previous high was set in 1889, when the baseball team representing the University of Virginia scored 59 runs in the first three games ever played.
- The weekend was capped off by a 31-8 victory in the Saturday nightcap. The 31 runs broke the previous program for most runs in a game, which was when the Hoos dropped 29 runs on Niagara in 2007.
- Crozet native Noah Murray broke the run record with a three-run blast in the eighth inning. With the home run, Murray became the 15th Cavalier to score five times in the same time.
- Chris Pollard became just the third head coach in program history to win his first three games. The other two coaches were H.H. Lannigan in 1918 and Brian O’Connor in 2004.